Wake Up Dead | Left Hand Brewing Company

0 characters.
We love reviews! Turn your rating into one with ≥ 150 characters. Awesome. Thanks for the review!

In English, explain why you're giving this rating. Your review must discuss the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) and your overall impression in order to indicate that you have legitimately tried the beer. Nonconstructive reviews may be removed without notice and action may be taken on your account.

Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a 1 inch tan head that fades to an oily film. Nice latticework of lacing forms around the glass on the drink down. Smells of dark fruits (raisins/plums), roasted dark malt, and slight chocolate syrup. Taste is of dark roasted malt, chocolate syrup, slight coffee, and even slighter black licorice. Very mild roasty bitterness on the palate after each sip. A nice carbonation level makes for a smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good stout from Left Hand. I am glad I picked this up in CO.

whoa! pours thick syrupy black with a minimal tan head. smells really intense, smokey with notes of licorice and bourbon. flavor is absolutely massive. im picking up tobacco, candied sugar, molasses, raisins (post review ive been informed the bottle says raisins!), and that funny birch syrup characteristic that sierra nevada's life and limb has, really really unique. full bodied as can be, sticky residue left over. plenty of bubbles too, but maybe a bit thick, not too too sweet. overall this stout is something different. theres nothing like it out there as far as im concerned, and this has to be one of lefthands best beers. wow this is great, definitely worth a try!

edit: ages super well too, had a bottle last night that had to be at least three or four years old if not more, and the slight oxidation and settled carbonation really flatter it, still rich cocoa and tobacco tones, dusty chocolate powder, light soy, toffee, and even wood. really fantastic beer, definitely a highlight in the lefthand portfolio!

A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a short tan head that quickly died down, leaving only bits of bubbles on the surface and a thin ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: Initially, there are moderate aromas of licorice and raisins in the nose. These die down a bit and notes of dark roasted malts become apparent as the beer warms up.
T: The taste is similar to the smell but also has some notes of roasted malts and a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium- to full-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. Hints of warmth from the alcohol are detectable.
O: I thought this was an average beer compared to other Russian Imperial Stouts and could have used more roasted flavors and bitterness.

Riding on the heels of the "Fade to Black" series, this barrel aged imperial stout exemplifies all things that are both dark and beer. It embraces the dark deadness and revels in its depths. Wake Up Dead is aptly named.

Its inky, jet black and opaque pour is absolutely absent of light and sucks the like into a depth of dense oily ale. Riding just above is a rather lively dense blanket of foam- tan in its color that's in stark contrast to the beer buried beneath. As the beer recedes, left behind is pocketed lace for a rich and robust display. A swirl of the glass reveals brandy-like legging with a tawny stain that draws in the eye.

The strong presence of espresso, cocoa, and toffee reach the nose well before the snifter closes to the nose. High roast scents of burnt wood- just shy of smoke, burnt fruit, and a general earthy soil scent offers light wood spices and the mild scent of ash to rise from time to time.

A malty-sweet collage of slightly burnt toffee, rich earthy espresso, bittersweet chocolate, and roasty campfire flavors mingle on the tongue with a savory underlay of creamy starch that coats the mouth evenly and firmly. Complementing fruit compounds of black cherry, aniseed, raisins, and currants all seem charred by open fire, giving only a glimpse of smoke and ash to the roast underpinnings. Firmly bitter by both coffee-like roast and woodish hops, the beer balances beautifully to finish.

And with its certain full body, the beer isn't overly chewy or thick- instead the rich taste of malt and protruding alcohol wrap around the tongue with a lush velvety, silky, and sultry feel. It's truly the closes your tongue will ever get to a massage. An extended finish of roast, caramel, bold alcohol warmth, and wood-derived astringency accompany the balance in taste that gives the beer a fortified dessert-like effect.

Dead in its demeanor, the beer is certainly alive with taste and texture. It's "awake" attributes are inviting, invigorating, and highly satisfying. Its a delicious imperial stout that begs for the accompaniment of walnuts and fruited cheese.

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 2/28/2013. Pours pitch black color with a 2 finger dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toffee, biscuit, nuttiness, brown sugar, toasted oats, raisin, light licorice, light smoke/char, and herbal/roasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt and light-moderate dark fruit notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toffee, biscuit, nuttiness, brown sugar, toasted oats, raisin, light licorice, light smoke/char, and herbal/roasted earthiness. Fair amount of herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toffee, biscuit, nuttiness, brown sugar, toasted oats, raisin, light licorice, light smoke/char, and herbal/roasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice complexity and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and light-moderate dark fruit flavors; with a great roasted malt bitterness/sweetness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy, and lightly slick/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent Russian imperial stout. All around great complexity and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and light-moderate dark fruit flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

A: Pours an opaque jet black in color with light amounts of gentle carbonation and some dark cola brown highlights. The beer has a two finger tall creamy tan head that quickly reduces to a couple of small to medium sized thin patch of medium sized bubbles with a small amount of very thin film mottling the remainder of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Significant amounts of lacing are observed.

T: Upfront there is a moderate to strong flavor of dark roasted, almost charred malts that give the beer a fairly strong amount of bitterness. There are faint notes of dark fruit (raisin) and anise licorice but without the normally associated sweetness. Slight hints of ash.

M: Medium to full bodied with slightly more than moderate amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of alcohol warming in the finish.

O: With the abundance of great beers in the Russian Imperial Stout style, I find this beer to be fairly pedestrian and not really doing anything interesting (compared with others). A little too much char and ash for my preference.

Doesn't really taste like a stout. Eventually there is a black burnt malt taste, but it's more of a really big Old Ale. A raisiny tang, more than a touch of sweet Vermouth flavor.

Dark brown in the glass with a modest head. Big malt with more tart than sweet in the profile. Some hop bitterness comes along in the aftertaste. Nicely carbonated on the tongue with a rich but not syrupy mouthfeel. Aroma of fruitcake and sherry. Kind of murky and a touch medicinal. Not so user-friendly as many other big alcohol beers. I would skip the second glass but it's a 22 oz bottle.

Decent starting head, but settles to a single layer of bubbles. It leaves a blanket of lace after each sip. The color is near black--no light passes.

I smelled dark cherry initially. There's also a milk chocolate aroma. Here's an odd addition, but it's entirely pleasant, there's a touch of olive oil to the nose. There's no coffee or alcohol present, which is equally surprising.

The taste is altogether different. First, I noticed a strong alcohol presence. Second, there is a coffee with cream flavor. There's also stone fruit in the background, but the swallow features a hop, not malt, bitterness. The swallow and aftertaste is all alcohol warmth. The body is thin like most stouts, but the low carbonation makes it seem creamy.